The present invention refers to a reflection device for roadside marking and of the type comprising at least one tubular means projecting in front of the reflector, said tubular means being intended to provide a stationary air cushion in front of the reflector.
Reflection posts are used for improving the visual guiding in darkness on roads where a stationary road lighting is missing and contribute to essentially improve the traffic safety. Many drivers have when driving in the dark felt the unpleasant feeling of not surely knowing how the road is leading especially when they are dazzled or when the windscreen is spattered. Critical situations caused by this could be avoided if the road boarders were marked with reflection posts. The reflection posts previously used have been affected by dirt very soon, whereby the reflection ability is decreased, and the necessary cleaning is time-requiring and expensive.
As examples of reflection posts where the reflective material is unprotected and therefore quickly is soiled can be mentioned the reflection posts shown in the Swedish patent specification Nos. 317,015 and 366,081.
In the Swedish patent specification No. 378,631 is shown a reflection post, where the reflector is placed in and protected by a tube and where the tube portion pprojecting in front of the reflector is of a sufficient length for the provision of a protecting air cushion in front of the reflector. The reflector is furthermore removable from the tube in order to facilitate the cleaning. Comparative tests initiated by the National Swedish Council for Road Safety Research with other reflection posts have clearly proved the superiority of this reflection post regarding need of cleaning and visibility. The visibility was about 3 times higher than for the next best reflection post while the need of cleaning was only 1/3 than for the other posts.
By e.g. the Swedish patent specificiation No. 55,240 and the U.S. patent specification No. 1,659,409 it is previously known to arrange in front of car headlights a device comprising a great number of cells with a relatively high ratio length/diameter. The light beams from the headlights are thereby prevented from diverging to any essential extent and the dazzling effect from the headlight is prevented. p Thus these publications describe devices for delivering light while the present invention refers to a device for reflecting light. These two previously known devices would not be applicable for the purpose of the present invention, viz. to prevent the reflector from being affected by dirt and retaining a good reflection ability. The device described in the Swedish patent specification No. 55,240 has a far too high ratio between length and diameter of the cells, for achieving any practically usuable reflection ability. The device described in the U.S. patent specification No. 1,659,409 can on the other hand not act as a soil protection, since there is an opening between the headlights and the device and no air cushion which would prevent soiling can therefore be formed.